Easter Seals Arkansas breaks ground

Easter Seals Arkansas broke ground on its newest apartment complex, Harold Court, on Tuesday morning. The new complex will be available to 14 adults with disabilities or special needs. The complex is expected to be completed by spring 2015.
(By Lisa Burnett)
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Easter Seals Arkansas broke ground Tuesday on a new apartment complex in Little Rock for adults with disabilities or special needs.

The complex, named Harold Court, is expected to be completed by spring 2015. Harold Court is named after Harold Rousch, one of the first tenants of Armistead Village apartments in Little Rock.

Armistead Village is another Easter Seals apartment complex for adults with disabilities. Harold died 3 1/2 years ago.

His brother, Randy Rousch, attended Tuesday’s ceremony and said he was proud to be a part of it.

“It was not too long after [Harold died] that we found that they they were going to be building the facility,” Rousch said. “[Susan May] called me up and told me ‘What we’d like to do is name it after Harold,’ and I said, ‘I would be honored for it to be Harold Court.’”

Rousch said his brother enjoyed living at Armistead Village.

“That was one of the best things that ever happened to him,” he said. “He was in his early to mid-50s and that was the first time in his life that he’d ever lived on his own.”

Easter Seals secured $1,491,100 of funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, $98,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank and $125,000 from the Central Arkansas Planning and Development District for the construction of Harold Court, the agency said in a news release.

Sharon Moone-Jochums, retired chief executive officer of Easter Seals Arkansas, said there is always a waiting list for residents to get into the Easter Seals apartment complexes.

“This is so exciting to know that 14 more people will be able to have their own home,” she said.

Harold Court will be located at 1401 Charlotte Drive in Little Rock, adjacent to Wilson Court I and Wilson Court II, which are also Easter Seals apartment complexes.

Easter Seals Arkansas is a nonprofit, community-based health agency whose mission is to provide “exceptional services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play in their communities," according to its website.